Boze burgers: politieke mobilisatie tegen de gemeentelijke herindeling van Den Haag en omgeving

Anger is a common emotion expressed by Dutch citizens who mobilize in response to policy interventions by the state. In this article, I argue that this anger and involvement should not be analysed in isolation but as a relational phenomenon. During a political decision-making process, the different actors involved - for example the government, the media or civil society - try to frame the process and together produce discourses. Whether citizens become angry and mobilized is strongly related to the different meanings produced by these discourses and the nature of the framing process. To illustrate this argument I analyse the incident that arose out of the amalgamation of The Hague with the municipalities in its vicinity. During the process, angry citizens were mobilized for massive protests against the initial plans. The analysis shows that in reactions to events that occur during the political decision-making process, emotions are differently framed. These changes provide important clues as to the motivation behind why citizens become politically active against policies by the state.